Question about Pipes freezing, heat, etc.

Macdaddy4738

Macdaddy4738

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
So this year I am renting a house up in Boone. Nice place, 5 bedrooms, I have two of them and my own bathroom, and we all pay 360 each.

Trouble started a few months ago. I moved in with my friend, his girlfriend, and his sister and boyfriend. Yeah, two couples, where could THAT go wrong? :rolleyes: Honestly I was out of options besides living alone, so I had no real choice.

Anyways, friend and his girl break up, she leaves. Bills still paid, rent still paid as if 5 are still there, no big deal. Sister gets ticked at brother, she and boyfriend leave. Bills paid, rent paid, again, no big deal. Its just down to friend and myself, not bad really.

Problem is, this kid is downright STUPID. After I tried many many times to get some stuff regarding heat down (back in AUGUST) he blew the whole thing off so nothing got done.

Needless to say, now we have no actual heat. The house is fairly large, 22' high ceilings in the living room. Its got baseboard, monitor, and a wood stove.

The size of the house honestly rules out baseboard for anything besides our rooms, and mine are about the only two sized to run it.

I know next to nothing about monitor heat, but from what I have read/heard it really only heats up the room its in?

My bets hinge on the wood stove. I'll be throwing all of my own money in to this since asshat room mate refuses to participate. He has been told that he has access to free wood via his dad, but has made no moves to get that done....

NOW, brings me to question two....

I left Boone on December 17th to come home for break. Room mate had to stay, works at a hotel in Blowing Rock (Cliff Dwellers, I think he said there was an NC4x4 member drop in a few months back, you probably know the moron), and had to work over Christmas.

Turns out, he didnt stay at the house over that entire time, and STILL hasn't. I had to get my birth certificate the other day and found his bathroom totally frozen, mine close to it. I fixed the issue before major problems and put a few preventative measures in place. However, if I hadn't have gone up there, that could have been a disaster. I would imagine one would live in the house you pay for, but I am also of a much sounder mind then this kid (seriously, he tried to use CHARCOAL in the wood stove inside....:shaking:)

So, how do I prevent pipes from freezing in a house with no real central heat to begin with? Also, how do I get it in this kids head that not only did he risk damage to the house, he risked everyone who is on the lease as well as all the parents involved (lets face it, none of us could afford to fix a house with busted pipes). I have tried yelling, I have tried calmly explaining, and nothing goes through.

Is there any way to absolve myself from responsibility if this house is damaged because of negligence of another party on the lease?

One more question. He has a broken down car sitting in one of our driveways essentially preventing adequate access to it. Can I get that towed away?
 
Other than keeping the heat on/up (which doesn't seem to be an option) all you can do is leave the water running. Just a trickle out of all of the fixtures will do.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
One more question. He has a broken down car sitting in one of our driveways essentially preventing adequate access to it. Can I get that towed away?
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the landlord should be able to...just sayin';)
 
Is there any way to absolve myself from responsibility if this house is damaged because of negligence of another party on the lease?
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What does your lease say? Is there an actual lease contract? What are the 'outs'? Might be time...
 
if you have access to the pipes you can use heat tape to keep from freezing. mine are exposed to the weather and froze until I got some for them. I had a car towed from my drive way and its not even my house.
 
anybody can call a tow truck and have it towed from pretty much anywhere... trust me the guys at ash Lake are more than willing to take the money. if it's that much of a problem, you need to tell him flat out that he has X (7?) days to move it himself before you make the call.
 
As far as your freezing pipes go, do like the other post said and let the water run out of the faucets. You don't need it on full blast just to the point of it barely coming out. This keeps a constant flow of things and just like a river it shouldn't freeze. X2 on the heat tape. Just go and get some wood for the stove it will save you a headache having to deal with your roommate. While using the stove for heat put a pot of water on there to add moisture to the air. Another good idea is put an oscillating fan next to it and have it blow the heat around. I used a wood stove for heat for a while living in South Dakota and with the fan it would heat the whole house without the fan it would only heat two of the rooms. You can also use it to cook with and save money on the gas/electric bill; heck I did at times.
 
Look, I've had rv's for years and I never winterize them. Go to Lowes and buy the $5.00 worklights that have the springloaded clips and a aluminum shades. I put one under each sink and one shining on the toilet, no problems. Be sure to use the old style bulbs that generate heat. I also use this to keep my well house from freezing. This has worked for 19 years.
 
Your Hot Dog Guy! said:
...buy the $5.00 worklights that have the springloaded clips and a aluminum shades.
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Ha ha I use those to winterize my boats. They work just fine.... Never tried it on my house though.

I feel your pain man. I live in an old old river cabin.. Place is litteraly caving in... but thats another story. I have an @sshat of a roommate too so that doesnt help. And I cant rely on him to fix things b/c he only caused more damage due to his half @ss nature.... Did i mention he's black? Ha ha ok enough said...

The windows on my place are very old and outdated and do not seal properly. So I got weather stripping from lows which to insulate the inside of the house. I also have baseboard heat but dont use it cause its only good for causing a fire. I do have central heat but try not to use it b/c air escapes that place so easily which caused it to constantly run and makes for a huge power bill... I use my wood furnace and a couple space heaters. Unfortunately, even after all the weather stripping the heat doesnt stay in but at least the cold air stays out... My flooring is very thin and not completely insulated so thats where the cold air is coming in...

As for the pipes. I got what looks like a flat garden hose but it plugs in and keeps the pipes warm. It draws little power but if you dont think your electrician skills are up to par then get some insulation from the hardware store. Its not too expensive and its simple to do...

After all that... Kick your roommate in the face for trying to use charcoal indoors... Carbon monoxide death is the painless killer....
 
sounds like a landlord issue. call him and get him to fix it. its his responsibility. If the insulation or existing heat inside the house isn't sufficient to keep the pipes from freezing then its an issue. No way can someone expect that a wood stove should be maintained 100% to keep the pipes from freezing especially when going out of town...
 
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